Roosevelt went hunting in Mississippi to bolster his standing as a ''good ol' boy.'' But he couldn't bring himself to shoot a bear cub that had been cornered and tied to a tree. ''If I shot that little fellow,'' he said, ''I wouldn't be able to look my boys in the face again.''

After a newspaper cartoon showed Roosevelt holding a rifle but refusing to shoot the bear, the teddy-bear stuffed animal was born and named for him.

NAOMI PASACHOFF

Williamstown, Mass., Dec. 18, 2003

The writer, a research associate at Williams College, is preparing an exhibit based on the college's Theodore Roosevelt collection.